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Bad conditions are normal at factories in Bangladesh

By Farid Hossainand Tim Sullivan Associated Press

Posted:
04/28/2013 06:10:29 PM MDT

Updated:
04/28/2013 06:11:10 PM MDT

Click photo to enlarge

In this April 27, 2013 file photo, Bangladeshi garment workers shout slogans and block a road during a protest against the collapse of an eight-story building that housed several garment factories and poor safety standards, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The owner of the building, who ignored inspectors who advised to close the structure when cracks appeared in the building a day before the collapse, sits at the nexus of party politics and the powerful $20 billion garment industry that drives the economy of this deeply impoverished nation. Experts say this intersection of politics and business, combined with a minimum wage of $9.50 a week that has made Bangladesh the go-to nation for many of the world s largest clothing brands, has created a predictable danger for factory workers. Government officials, labor activists, manufacturers and retailers all called for improved safety standards after a November fire in the same suburb, when locked emergency exits trapped hundreds of garment workers inside amid spreading flames and 112 people died. But almost nothing has changed. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad, File)

SAVAR, Bangladesh -- When the cracks in the building appeared early Tuesday afternoon, a stocky man in his early 30s -- a feared political operative who a neighbor says dropped out of school in seventh grade -- quickly arrived at the scene in this crowded industrial suburb of the capital.

By then, fear had spread through the 3,200 people who worked in the five clothing factories that jammed the upper floors of Rana Plaza, and the handful of shops on the lower ones. Most of the workers had gathered in the street out front. Few wanted to go back in. Inspectors said the eight-story building should be closed until it could be inspected.

The next morning, many of the building's shops and a first-floor bank remained closed. But the factories' 8 a.m. shift began as usual. About 45 minutes into the shift, the building suddenly collapsed, killing at least 377 people in a fury of falling concrete. It was the worst industrial accident in the history of Bangladesh. More than three days later, rescuers are still crawling through the wreckage, hoping to find anyone who has managed to survive so long. By Saturday, nearly all the people being carried out were dead.

By that point, though, Rana had disappeared. Local media reports said he left his basement office in Rana Plaza just before the collapse, drove away and dropped from sight.

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He was arrested Sunday as he tried to cross the border into India.

For years, though, Rana had sat at the nexus of party politics and the powerful $20 billion garment industry that drives the economy of this deeply impoverished nation. This intersection of politics and business, combined with a minimum wage of $9.50 a week that has made Bangladesh the go-to nation for many of the world's largest clothing brands, has made dangerous factory conditions almost normal, experts say.

Government officials, labor activists, manufacturers and retailers all called for improved safety standards after a November garment factory fire in the same suburb, when locked emergency exits trapped hundreds of workers inside and 112 people died. But almost nothing has changed.

"Successive Bangladeshi governments have paid lip service to worker safety but in reality it is only the factory owners who have the ear of policymakers," Brad Adams, the Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "How many factory tragedies will it take before the Bangladeshi government ends its cozy relationship with powerful company owners and prioritizes worker safety?"

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